BJP seeks consensus on sugarcane prices

AGENCIESDec 13, 2002, 06.56am IST

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Thursday said there was need to evolve a consensus among all states at the meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) on December 21 on the minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane.

``To change the court decision on the MSP for sugarcane, it is necessary that all parties sit down and arrive at a consensus and approach the court,'' party spokesman V K Malhotra told reporters here.

The Allahabad High Court had ruled that the MSP for sugarcane should be at the rate fixed by the Centre and not state governments.

Mr Malhotra said sugarcane farmers in states were going through a bad patch as the MSP varied from state to state.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee also suggested that a meeting of all concerned be convened to decide the minimum support price for sugarcane to the growers and asserted ``we have to rise above party considerations'', he told members of the Lok Sabha.

Responding to the issue raised by agitated opposition members who had stalled the question hour protesting yesterday's police firing on sugarcane farmers in Basti (UP), Mr Vajpayee said the court had ordered that the state government could not pay more than what had been fixed by the Centre.

``If the court's order is a hurdle, let all of us sit together and decide the issue,'' the prime minister said.